1 Week Old

Original Text of an E-mail from Douglas to Family/Friends

Kim was able to get a full night sleep on Thursday night (I won the initial stubborn contest) and got up around quarter to 9.  After she came downstairs up I got Aden and Gabriel baths before giving Alexandria her scrub-down.  Alexandria had a good Friday and only had two respiratory episodes.

We have a three person team from hospice;  two RNs, Mary and Jessica, and Dawn our social worker.  Jessica from hospice came by around 10am to check-in and see how she was doing.  This was Jessica’s first visit.  I peppered her with questions about other children she had helped with Trisomy 18.  None of them had started with the cardiac and respiratory issues that Alexandria had, but they all had heart defects of a different nature then Alex has.    The oldest lived 29 days.  So, part of me has hope that Alex doesn’t have their heart conditions, but I’m concerned that she had such a rough start.  It is so impossible to weigh expectations.  “Every child is different…” she says, which is absolutely true and something Kim and I know all too well because of our experiences with Aden.

My foster sister Marybeth and family showed up around 1:30, and after handing off Alexandria to her to hold for a moment I

ended up falling asleep on the couch next to them.  I slept about a half hour before my foster brother Michael and his family arrived.  One of the things we wanted to do for her was have a birthday party and @ 1 week with a bunch of family here seemed like a good time.   🙂  Kim made the greatest birthday cake for her

We had a fairly uneventful day and had a good visit with Marybeth and crew before they headed back to Midland.  Michael and family are going to stay here until Monday and help us out, it’s very good to have them here.

Hope all is well with all of you, Merry Christmas Eve!